Flight ZMA01 - Part C

Now you usually think that Malachi is the last Old Testament prophet. No, the last Old Testament prophet was John the Baptist.

See, how do you figure? Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Pastor Skip examines the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi, and shows you how it's the bridge between the Old and the New Testaments. Now, here's an offer that'll help you know the path to true spiritual freedom so you can follow it and point others to it as well. Freedom is precious and in human history not common in governance. America was built on the cornerstone that man is endowed by his creator with rights that cannot be taken away. Our government was formed to secure existing rights, not provide them, but there is a higher permanent liberty, the freedom from sin. If you want to fix a society, they need truth.

If you want to fix a broken political system, you need to infuse it with truth and expose ourselves to the truth of the Word of God. True freedom is ours, but we need to understand the terms. That's what you'll find in our freedom package of resources by Skip Heitzig. The package features Skip's 10 full-length message set of your path to freedom messages, including Securing the Foundations and Jesus in the Age of Confusion. The freedom package is our thanks for your gift of $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig.

So request your freedom package today when you give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. Now, let's turn over to Zachariah for today's lesson with Skip. Kings rode donkeys in times of peace. They rode steeds, horses, stallions in times of war. That's why when Jesus comes back, Revelation 19, He's not on a donkey anymore. He's on a horse to rule and reign, to conquer the world, to put an end to what has been going on. But here, as the prophecy predicted, He's riding a donkey.

Now, between verse 9 and 10, the period at the end of verse 9 is a 2,000-year period, the age of grace, the church age. Now, verse 10, we're into the second coming. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim. That's a euphemism for the nation of Israel.

It's one of the large tribes. And the horse from Jerusalem, the battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations. His dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the river, that is the Euphrates, to the ends of the earth. This is Messiah's peaceful reign after His second coming.

You may want to write in the margin Isaiah chapter 2, because in Isaiah chapter 2 and the book of Micah, I think chapter 4, they quote each other. And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to make war anymore. That's Messiah's reign from Jerusalem. And that is the same shade of meaning here in this verse. Chapter 10 speaks about the blessings of the future kingdom. Chapter 11, the rejection of the king.

In chapter 11, can we just do this very quickly? Verse 10, I took my staff beauty and I cut it in two that it might break the covenant which I had made with all the people. So it was broken on that day, verse 11 of chapter 11. Thus the poor of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of the Lord. And I said to them, if it is agreeable to you, give me my wages, if not reframe. So they weighed out for my wages, how much? 30 pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, throw it to the potter. That princely price they set on me. So I took the 30 pieces of silver, threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.

Then I cut in two my other staff bonds that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. The prophet here, speaking of Jesus, paints the picture of Christ as a shepherd asking his flock, what am I worth to you? Expecting them to say, oh, you're worth everything to us, you have a miserable worth. But they say, you are worth less than a slave gored by an ox.

Now let me explain that. Numbers chapter 21, 30 pieces of silver was the price you would pay for a slave gored by an ox. So that's very low. So basically you're saying, you are worth to us less than a slave. Your value to us is only 30 pieces of silver. Now, Matthew 27 goes on to say that this is the fulfillment. Judas Iscariot fulfills this prophecy because he took 30 pieces of silver for betraying Christ. That's all Jesus was worth in fulfilling that prophecy. Threw it into the house of the Lord.

They bought a potter's field. Judas hung himself in that potter's field. So that prophecy was fulfilled here. Chapters 12, 13, and 14 are about the second coming of Christ and interspersed in that, the kingdom age is there as well, but interspersed in that is the last battle of the nations of the world that gather against Jerusalem in the end of days. So I take you now to chapter 14, where we will bring Zachariah to a close. And notice something in verse 3 of chapter 14. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations. You really have to read all of 12 and 13 to really get the flow of that, but we just don't have the time.

I trust you've done it before. And this is 30,000 feet. So the Lord will go forth and fight those nations. Judgment is already decreed about these nations before these verses.

He'll fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. And in that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. It's always fun to pull this out while we're standing on the Mount of Olives and just to realize what has happened, what will happen from that place. And the Mount of Olives will be split in two, making a very large valley.

Half of the mountain shall be moved toward the north and half toward the south. When Jesus ascended up into heaven, he didn't ascend up into heaven from Jerusalem, but from the Mount of Olives outside of Jerusalem, right? It says he took his disciples out to the Mount of Olives and then a cloud lifted him up and they watched him go into heaven. And so the disciples are looking up because, you know, he was here.

Now it's this kind of song, rise, checking it out. And so as they're looking up, an angel appears and says, you men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who is taken from you will so come again in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. How did Jesus go into heaven? In a cloud, visibly, physically, visibly from the Mount of Olives. How will Jesus return? In a cloud, physically, visibly to the Mount of Olives.

And this time it'll be split in two. I've been told on a number of occasions by tour guides that there is a fault line that runs right from the Syria African rift, that great tectonic plate formation that formed the nation of Israel. That fault line rides, runs directly under the Mount of Olives. So that fault line is waiting for a very specific footprint. And when his foot touches down, I think that fault will be active and that valley will be formed when Jesus returns to the earth. Verse 8, and in that day there shall be living water shall flow from Jerusalem half toward the eastern sea half toward the western sea in both summer and winter it shall occur the Lord shall be king over all the earth shall be in that day the Lord in that day it shall be the Lord is one and his name one I have interesting little tidbit about that but I don't have the time because we have malachi to finish so sorry about that that's very cruel probably to say that um but go down to verse 16 it shall come to pass now that we're looking future now we're looking past the second coming we're looking into the kingdom age now messiah is reigning on earth it says he'll be king over all the earth we read that now watch this it'll come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the king of the Lord of hosts and to keep the feast of tabernacles so if you're not able to join us on a tour of Israel you'll get there in fact it seems that there'll be a delegation from every nation you might be part of that delegation to celebrate the feast of tabernacles in Jerusalem so you'll get to see it in the kingdom age but it is worth a trip before the kingdom age because it's nice to see a before and after view because if I read Ezekiel right it's not going to look anything like it does today and if you want to see the places that represent the biblical places where things took place it's kind of good to see it before that point okay now we're in the last book of the bible we can do this short book four short chapters the book of malachi i mean malachi uh it is the bridge between the old testament and the new testament it takes us all the way to john the baptist he's mentioned in this book he fulfills prophecies mentioned in this book now you usually think that malachi is the last old testament prophet no the last old testament prophet was john the baptist you say how do you figure well jesus said all the prophets prophesied until john so jesus designated john the baptist as the last of the ot old testament prophets and we should move on um i have to catch myself sometimes because my mind goes to these places and i got to reel it back in so there's a style in this book called a dialectic style dialectic style meaning it's question and answer or better yet a proposition followed by an objection followed by a reaction and so that's the style that is seen throughout the book because of that malachi has been called the socrates of the old testament because of this very unique style of his prophecy okay so it is post-exile the people are back in the land i already mentioned they're apathetic they're divorcing their wives um they're uh they're not good with finances they're withholding their ties all of these things are addressed in this book but notice the first few verses the burden of the word of the lord to israel by malachi i have loved you says the lord yet you say here's that dialectic style yet you say in what way have you loved us imagine saying that to god god says i love you we say prove it was not esau jacob's brother says the lord yet jacob i have loved so there's this resistance that we see in this book go down to verse six a son honors his father a servant his master if then i am the father where is my honor and if i am the master where's my reverence says the lord of hosts to you priests who despise my name yet you say in what way have we despised your name and he he answers that question go down to chapter two this continues as he uncovers several of the issues they have i mentioned the they're dealing with money they're dealing with their spouses etc verse 13 chapter 2 says this is the second thing you do to cover the altar of the lord with tears with weeping and crying so he does not regard the offering anymore nor receive it with goodwill from your hands yet you say for what reason because the lord has been witnessed between you and the wife of your youth with whom you have dealt treacherously yet she is your companion or your covenant companion for life and the wife by covenant verse 16 for thus says the lord of israel he hates divorce for it covers one's garment with violence says the lord of hosts therefore take heed to your spirit that you do not deal treacherously now chapter three and four treacherously now chapter three and four which brings us to the close these are the most famous two chapters in the book of malachite this is where most quotes come from and most of our attention is known on these last two chapters you'll see why verse one chapter three behold i send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me and the lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple even the messenger so that's the second messenger in this section the first messenger mentioned right up front this is now the second messenger even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight behold he is coming says the lord of hosts so there's two messengers one is called the lord one is somebody announcing the lord this is predicted at the time the temple wasn't even finished or they had slowed down on it for this prophecy to be fulfilled there has to be a temple standing because he's the lord of the of the covenant is going to come to that temple suddenly even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight so this is why this book provides the bridge between the old testament and the new testament now when malachi is done which will be soon well we're almost done with it there's going to be 400 years of silence before god speaks again to the father of john the baptist zacharias that elizabeth is going to have a child who's going to be the messenger that that fulfills us so god breaks his radio silence after 400 years now go over to chapter four verse five look at that we're already at the end behold i will send you elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord and he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children the heart of the children to the fathers lest i come and strike or smite the earth with a curse the earth with a curse when jesus was transfigured up in the galilee region in front of his disciples peter james and john were with him two people appeared with jesus on that mount of transfiguration one was moses one was elijah they were talking about the cross they were talking about the coming kingdom here is the prediction god says i will send elijah the prophet before the coming the great and dreadful day of the lord now notice the description of what he will do he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children the hearts of the children to the fathers an angel as i mentioned appears to zacharias 400 years later father of john the baptist so you're going to have a boy you're going to call his name john he's going to be god's messenger he's going to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers which troubles us a little bit or makes us wonder well wait a minute that's elijah the prophet who is coming so in in the previous chapter i'm going to send my messenger who's going to make the way for the lord the messenger now he says elijah the prophet is going to come now as i turn to luke chapter one i'll read to you as we're closing this out verse 15 of that first chapter the angel says to zacharias he will be great in the sight of the lord he won't drink wine or strong drink he will be filled with the holy spirit from his mother's womb he will turn many of the children of israel to the lord their god he will also watch this go before him in the spirit and in the power of elijah quoting now the prophet that we just read to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the lord okay john the baptist is born he comes on the scene he starts preaching starts baptizing they come to him and they ask him right in his face are you elijah and he says what no are you that prophet the messiah he said no so he denies being the messiah he denies being the prophet elijah although the angel said to his dad he's going to be elijah-like right okay it gets even more fun than that in matthew chapter one jesus speaking quoting malachi in verse 10 of chapter 11 of matthew matthew chapter 11 verse 10 behold i send my messenger before you prepare your face prepare your way before you assuredly i say to you among those born of women there has not risen one greater than john the baptist but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he and from the days of john the baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violence taken by force for all the prophets and the law prophesied until john now watch this and if you are willing to receive it he is elijah who is to come now we're complicating it a little bit right because because zachariah hears from the angel he's going to be like elijah yet john the baptist said no i'm not elijah now jesus says if you can if you can receive it he is elijah who is to come okay now i'm going to resolve it matthew chapter 17 don't worry we're closing this book very shortly i know my time's up chapter 17 of matthew his disciples asked him verse 10 saying why then do some of the scribes say that elijah must come first well the scribes are right because the prophet said that right then jesus answered and said elijah truly is coming first and will restore all things so he's speaking future john the baptist has come and gone right he says elijah will be coming in the future but verse 12 but i say to you that elijah has come already and they did not know him but to but did to him whatever they wished likewise the son of man is also about to suffer their hands then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of whom john the baptist okay so put it all together for you john the baptist was a forerunner of the messenger he came he came having an elijah-like ministry in a sense he was elijah fulfilling the ushering in of the messiah but the real prophet elijah who died whom jesus met on the mount of transfiguration will come again before jesus shows up the second time when does he come i think revelation 11 there are two prophets and if you look at their description they smack almost identical of what they're able to do and their description of moses and elijah that is that happens before the so i hope that solved the puzzle for you john the baptist was in a sense elijah but not the real prophet elijah was elijah oid elijah-like but the real prophet elijah will be resurrected will come to the earth and um and we'll have a ministry before jesus okay the old testament ends and what is the last word in the old testament what's the last word have your bible open so curse mark that because the last verse of the bible in the new testament revelation says the grace of the lord jesus christ be with you all amen the old testament ends with a curse the new testament ends with a blessing jesus came to remove the curse introduced in genesis maintained here all the way through the book of malachi but as it says in the gospel of john chapter 1 the law came by moses which brought a curse the law came by moses but grace and truth came through jesus christ that's Skip heidegger with a message from the series the bible from 30 000 feet find the full message as well as books booklets and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com right now here's Skip and lenya to share some exciting news about a trip to the holy land i'm guessing that many of you have thought about talked about maybe even dreamed about visiting israel well let's make that happen lenya and i are taking a tour group to israel next summer in 2024 and i can't wait we'll start in tel Aviv head north to nazareth the sea of galley and the jordan river we'll spend several days in jerusalem and see the garden of gethsemane the upper room and so much more and we'll wrap it all up with a swim in the dead sea now i've been to israel many times like over 40 in fact i can honestly say though that visiting the places where the scriptures unfolded where jesus lived out his earthly ministry it never gets old no it doesn't the incredible sightseeing will be punctuated by times of worship and teachings that you'll never forget and jeremy camp and ad camp will be with us to lead worship make plans to join us next summer in israel see the itinerary and book this israel tour with Skip heitzig and jeremy camp today at inspirationcruises.com slash c-a-b-q that's inspirationcruises.com slash c-a-b-q and we're excited to send you more content from pastor Skip and this ministry right to your mobile device to join our new text messaging group just text the word connect to 74759 that's connect to 74759 then be on the lookout for your first message a video from pastor Skip welcoming you to the group tomorrow Skip begins a new series titled fact check with a message about how to fact check your faith make a connection make a connection at the foot of the crossing cast all burdens on his word make a connection the connection connect with Skip heitzig is a presentation of connection communications connecting you to god's never changing truth in ever-changing times